The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-03-27

The Ponce de Leon WeIl-a History of y n
PIorstion-Its Course and Its Results.

The Ponce de Leon weII-a History of EN-
PIoration-Its Course and Its Results.
The jacksonville Morning Netrs has
of the results of Mr.. Flagler's exploring
excursion into the bowels of the earth at
st. Augustine, and. with permission, we
condense the work of our contemporary
for the benefit of our readers.
The opening of the great artesion well
was determined upon by Mr.. Flagler at
first. to supply the Ponce de Leon Hotel
with abundance of water as well as
power for all purposes. and it was cal
culated that 100000 gallons per day
would be sufficient. But the opportu-
nifty for scientific observation was duly
appreciated by the superintendent in
charge. and he has utilized it to
the utmost. The table appended
will show the strata of sand. rock,
coral and clay through which the drill
has passed, and other particulars of gem
eral interest, but we would direct atten-
tion to some conclusions Of special i'm
portance.
Mr.. Kennish SAYS: -
The strata existing between the sur
face and the first rock at 40 feet depth.
is first sand. next coquina and then blue
clay. This last stratum. which Is "a feet
i'm thickness and impervious to water,
rests like "A huge blanket upon the sui
phur water with its pressure Of over two
tons to the square foot and thus impris-
ons il To its subterranean chamber. If
this clay were but 20 feet in thickness
the pressure beneath would toss il up
with its covering of sand and its forests
of pine. and populous towns and bear
the peninsula away Ia be deposited i'm
the ocean depths. The waters of the At
lantic and the Gulf would be united and
cover To the depth Of 100 feet what had
once been this fair and beautiful penin-
sular State. Wherever a fault occurs i'm
this great covering of blue clay natural
SPRING exists.
Here are various propositions startling
to the commonplace views of geological
authorities. The water to fill this vast
subterranean sea trickles through all in
tervening space till it reaches the
reservoir, which supplies treacherous
support To our State, And this reservoir
is not only boundless in extent, bat so
AiiS ifatA
composed by contact or proximity to
the internal fires
Think Of il. We who recline i'm peace
and quietness ON the bosom of mother
earth When Mark Twain was on the
Mississippi. the captain was in the habit
Of seating a negro ON the safety valve i'm
times of great danger. Have we not often
shuddered at the poor man. possible fate:
Yet here we have the fires Of hell itself
raging under a SEA Of vast extent, and
the mighty forces liberated i'm this fear
some laboratory are only kept down by a
lid Of clay fitting snugly on the pot and
kept in place by the poor weight Of Flor
ida and her people. il there not danger
that the drill of F1aRler or some other
meddler will precipitate an explosion,
and we shall be treated to an involuntary
excursion through the realms Of bound
less space which lie above US:
How the revelations of science show
Us our true noshingness i'm the scheme
of creation. The fires Of hell which we
dreamed were fueled by sin and famed
by the whiriwinds of Gods justice are
kept ablaze to furnish power and hot
| water TO factories and hotels: man
| whose thought wander through eterni-
ty and whose soul is part Of the Creatos